FIBRE TO THE BUILDING (FTTB)

In 2013 ICL were approached to participate in a pilot project in partnership with Reach Active for ESB/Vodafone (now known as SIRO). SIRO is one of Ireland’s largest Fibre to the Building (FTTB) operator delivering speed, reliability and instant access.

The project entailed using the existing electricity network to provide 100% fibre broadband directly into residential homes or businesses enabling speeds of up to 1GB per second.

ICL were approached to pilot this project based on our proven history in project management and being specialist providers of fibre solutions.

ICL provided a full turnkey solution which included the following:

Design

Fibre Build

Fibre Testing

Fibre Installation to the Building

With this being a pilot project there were a number of challenges we faced along the way. Some of these challenges included it being a new project which had never been constructed before on the ESB network, identification of duct routes and depths due to the nature of the ESB network, unforeseen design issues, sourcing of the correct specification of components to meet the design and working on a live ESB network.

ICL would have previously worked on other projects on the ESB network and hence, had knowledge of the network infrastructure and what way ducting would have been laid feeding into mini-pillars and vaults. Any unforeseen design issues were resolved through knowledge of the fibre capabilities and redesigns drawn up based on this. We worked with the client and suppliers to source the required materials to ensure that they were to the required specification.

Following the successful completion of the Fibre to the Building Trial ICL have since secured several other contracts working on the SIRO project.